


Patch up our girl

by Mierke



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 03:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3312131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Serenity's hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patch up our girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jacquelee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/gifts).



> Beta'ed by the incomparable Samantha.

Kaylee bowed over the engine and softly hummed the sound Serenity had been making up until a minute ago. They were planet-side now, their last job going smoothly for once, and she had been promised the money to replace whatever it was that was causing Serenity to call out for help. 

"She's hurt."

Kaylee jumped and let out a startled little yelp as River suddenly stood next to her. The girl didn't seem to notice, instead peering into the engine as if she knew what was going on. And for all Kaylee knew, she actually did have the knowhow to patch up Serenity. 

"Don't know exactly where," River said, breaking into her thoughts. "The engine doesn't talk to me like it does to you. But Serenity talks, and she's in pain."

Kaylee nodded, head back into the engine, trying to recreate the sound her ship had been making. She sighed as she realized she'd lost it. Listening to Serenity was usually the best way to figure out what was wrong, and without the exact sound in her head she had to check every single little thing that could be causing difficulties. She was about to turn to River to ask her to turn on the engine, in the hope they didn't need to be flying for her ship to make these sounds, when she heard the exact sound she had heard before.

Surprised, she looked up from her engine, and River smiled at her. 

"Just giving you the tools you need."

Kaylee stuck her head back into the engine, thankful for the help. The compression coil looked just fine, which was a relief, but she double-checked the catalyser, just to be sure. They really didn't need a repeat of that scare.

"Was she steering okay?" she asked River, as she looked over the Grav-Boot. It seemed that system was perfectly fine as well.

"Right was left and left was right, but otherwise she steered just fine," River replied.

It took a while for the answer to catch up with Kaylee, as her mind was still occupied with the more thorough check of the Grav-Boot. When River's words had finally made their way to her brain, Kaylee looked up with a bemused expression on her face.

"Literally?" she asked and when River nodded she laughed. "You didn't think to lead with that?"

River shrugged, seemingly completely unaware of why that information would have been helpful from the start.

"She listened just fine," she insisted. "Was just confused."

"Well, let's clear up that confusion," Kaylee answered and went back into the engine, this time focussing on the Aft Alternator. At first glance it seemed okay, but River's explanations had her pretty convinced that the problem would be situated there. She carefully liberated it from the engine, and looked it over in her hands. 

On close examination, it appeared that some wires had melted together from the heat of the engine. River's, or maybe even Wash's flying style from before, had apparently overloaded the system. 

"Found it!" she said, a smile on her face. "Want to join me when I go out to find a new one?"

An hour later they were on their way, arms linked, their laughter merging into the bustle of the crowd. They were moving slowly, leisurely, enjoying every moment of being out in the sun. Kaylee loved the black, but she did miss this sometimes. Just walking among the crowd, pretty people everywhere, the feel of the wind and summer on her face. 

The city wasn't all that big, and just before the mechanics store - it didn't happen often she got promised a new one, she wasn't going to pass up that chance - they walked by a junkyard. She hesitated for a moment, but could hardly resist the temptation of scouring the place. With an expert eye she surveyed the yard, locating all kinds of materials that could be helpful to her girl. River skipped off to one side, while Kaylee walked to where she had spotted some still good fuel cells. 

Before she knew it, time got away with her, and when she next looked up from the materials, the sun was already setting.

"Jao gao, the stores will be closing," she yelled, warning River and waving her over to the entrance. Running and laughing, they made their way to the mechanics store, arriving just in time to breathlessly inform the owner they wanted to buy an Aft Alternator for a Firefly Series 3, just in time to have the owner condescendingly tell them that sure, they did stock that, but she would need to see money before getting it out of storage. 

Kaylee looked at their clothes, smeared from their prolonged stay at the junkyard, and shrugged. Putting the money on the counter, but not letting it leave her hand, she said with a cheery smile on her face: "We're good for it, thanks."

The first time the woman came back to the front of the store, she'd brought an Alternator for the Series 2, and Kaylee just figured she'd heard wrong and gave it back.

"For a Series 3, please," she repeated, and the woman went back inside. When the one she brought was for a Series 4 this time, Kaylee gritted her teeth and gave it back again, repeating her request for a Series 3. The woman rolled her eyes, but went back into storage again, this time coming back with the actual Aft Alternator. Kaylee looked it over in her hands, checking it for any damage, but it looked perfectly fine.

"Thank you," she said politely, and let go of the money she'd still been holding on to. "Have a nice day!"

As the woman was counting the money, Kaylee and River left the store. Just before they walked out the door, River turned around and said: "Cover's all wrong. Doesn't mean the book's bad."

The woman hardly looked up from her counter, but Kaylee smiled and took River's hand. 

"Don't know whether she was toyin' with us or just plain ignorant. Don't matter so much now, though," she said, taking River's hand, their arms swinging. "Let's go patch up our girl."


End file.
